Whistling Noise and Tiptronic Clutch Smells

[DenverTheD]

Hi,

I picked up a 4.2 2008 tiptronic a few weeks ago. It's an awesome machine that I'm still finding my feet in and thought I'd prey on your knowledge.

It whistles most notably between about 2000 and 2500 revs. It seems to do the same in neutral and in gear. I find it really detracts from the feel of driving a powerful car when you're pottering around town as it's louder than the engine noise in the cabin. Is this noise normal?

When parking (and making a mess of it) or going slowly up hill afterwards I get that horrible expensive clutch smell afterwards. Is that normal? I've also been a bit concerned about crawling along in traffic. Is the clutch slipping lots when doing this? Any tips on how best to look after my clutch and slow manoeuvring would be appreciated.

Happy new year.

Denver

[smoothy]

I haven't had those problems, I'd play safe and run it past the dealer though, it should still be under warranty

[randombloke]

sorry to be pedantic, but there isn't an r8 tiptronic - I trust you mean r-tronic which is an automated single clutch manual rather than a paddle influenced automatic gearbox. I know it's being picky, but it fuels peoples preconceptions that r-tronic equates to porsche tip.

depends what you mean by whistle - having the engine so close to your ears means you get to hear more mechanical noise than one sat up front behind a bulkhead. you get to hear all the pumps in the r8.

unless your maneuvers are very load intensive (eg steep inclines) then you shouldn't have any clutch issues so worth getting a dealer to check that out.

how many miles are on the car?

[Monkey boy UK]

Hi,

I picked up a 4.2 2008 tiptronic a few weeks ago. It's an awesome machine that I'm still finding my feet in and thought I'd prey on your knowledge.

It whistles most notably between about 2000 and 2500 revs. It seems to do the same in neutral and in gear. I find it really detracts from the feel of driving a powerful car when you're pottering around town as it's louder than the engine noise in the cabin. Is this noise normal?

When parking (and making a mess of it) or going slowly up hill afterwards I get that horrible expensive clutch smell afterwards. Is that normal? I've also been a bit concerned about crawling along in traffic. Is the clutch slipping lots when doing this? Any tips on how best to look after my clutch and slow manoeuvring would be appreciated.

Happy new year.

Denver

This wouldnt be DD would it?!

[DenverTheD]

sorry to be pedantic, but there isn't an r8 tiptronic - I trust you mean r-tronic which is an automated single clutch manual rather than a paddle influenced automatic gearbox. I know it's being picky, but it fuels peoples preconceptions that r-tronic equates to porsche tip.

depends what you mean by whistle - having the engine so close to your ears means you get to hear more mechanical noise than one sat up front behind a bulkhead. you get to hear all the pumps in the r8.

unless your maneuvers are very load intensive (eg steep inclines) then you shouldn't have any clutch issues so worth getting a dealer to check that out.

how many miles are on the car?

Thanks for the terminology tip. I had previously brushed all cars with the flappy paddle style auto gearboxes with that name. You prompted me to read wikipedia on tiptronic - which even states lots of people get this terminology wrong do I don't feel like such a dunce.

The whistle is like one of those old kettles in the distance. I thought it was the transmission at first but it still does it in neutral. It's much louder than the engine noise (which I find quiet anyway) with the windows closed.

The car has 16k miles on it. I bought it from an Audi dealer. They screwed up so I have a free full service on it. When I take it in I wanted to voice any concerns but I wanted to see if these are just r8 idiosyncrasies or there is something up with it that I should get them to check.

Is the clutch smelling a sign of it being worn? A example of it occurring could be having 3 attempts to reverse park into a tight space.

Thanks, Denver

[ianerrid]

This wouldnt be DD would it?!

No, not abusive or puerile enough ;-)

[randombloke]

The whistle is like one of those old kettles in the distance. I thought it was the transmission at first but it still does it in neutral. It's much louder than the engine noise (which I find quiet anyway) with the windows closed.

I've just uploaded a test video I made a little while back from the inside of my car - if you wear headphones and crank up the volume it gives a pretty good feel for the noises I hear:

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dfwyXvojP-A[/ame]

Is the clutch smelling a sign of it being worn? A example of it occurring could be having 3 attempts to reverse park into a tight space.

I've never smelt the clutch in mine and only had an overheat warning once when I was doing a gazillion point turn upbank on a very steep driveway. If the clutch has been given a very hard life in its 16k miles then it could well be on the way out and the r-tronic is a pretty blunt instrument when it comes to slow speed maneuvers.

[ianerrid]

Whistle sounds like an induction leak, definitely a warranty fix IMHO? Mine sounds like Randonblokes...

Clutch sounds knackered too, suggest it's had a hard life! Suggest you check its had the 24R4 update too.

[DenverTheD]

Many thanks for that video link. Mine sounds the same all but the whistle from about 2000-2500rpm. I will flag this with Audi.

When I bought the car I specifically asked about the clutch because I am paranoid about them - I also hate the smell of burning clutch. I will ask them to check it again and also if has had that update.

I'm away for a few weeks but when I'm back I'll get it in into Audi and I'll let you know what the outcome is or was. I will certainly be making sure they put anything right that needs to be done which is why I wanted to clarify what is normal with existing owners.

Thanks for the advice. It's very much appreciated.

[swansailor]

Whistle sounds like an induction leak, definitely a warranty fix IMHO? Mine sounds like Randonblokes...

Clutch sounds knackered too, suggest it's had a hard life! Suggest you check its had the 24R4 update too.

Ian

Do you have any details of the 24R4 update (date, content etc.)? I asked my dealer to check if my car was due this update and he ran the VIN and said it was not due any updates. Maybe I already had it done??

Thanks in advance.

BTW ... I have never had a clutch smell from my r-tronic (now with 12,000 miles)